Short and Fat Race Report
There I was lined up at the Chequamegon Short and Fat . . . first race in a year . . .only two other rides on my mountain bike (and one was the day before). Michelle will have to let you know if I seemed nervous as I was nervous but I was trying to seem totally nonchalant . . . at least I looked good with my purple bike, purple jersey, purple shorts, purple helmet. I always feel that it is important to look fast on the start line especially if you aren't feeling fast.
Anyway, there I was lined up next to my FORCs teammate Michelle wondering just how badly I would do but trying to remember my daily affirmation "I am fast . . .yes I am." Okay, so I'm reading this book on the Tao of Sports and it says to put post it notes around the house to remind yourself that you are fast, worthy, whatever and so my friend Dirk put one up for me the night before the race that said that.
So the gun goes off and the pack surges forward and away goes Michelle. Okay, so that ended my plan of trying to stay on her wheel as that didn't last for 10 seconds. In one minute I can't even see her anymore. We're off down the gravel road and I'm trying to not get knocked over in the melee of 800 mountain bikers who don't know how to hold a line. After about 10 minutes not only have I been passed by all 800 people who started behind me but also by about 1000 more stand-ins who were brought in just to pass me on the road and then pull off. But I persevere and try not to worry about any bumping or jostling and that everyone is riding away from me . . . Dirk catches me way too soon given that he started almost in the back. He slows up though to remind me that "I am fast . . . yes I am" and then gives me a push to make it seem true.
Finally things start to get sorted out and we get off the annoying gravel road . . . and we're approaching the part of the race that makes me nervous-- the climbs. I know that I've lost leg strength over the last year and I know that I haven't really done any hilly rides this year. However, I finally get in "the zone" and people stop passing me. Then I start to pass at least a few people.
Then I start to get giddy with the fun of it all and I can't stop yelling "yahoo" every time I see volunteers or random people on the side of the trail clapping. The I get even more giddy and I start to talk to the other racers . . . this is normal procedure for the 40 mile race but not in the Short where everyone is all serious. I start yelling out the mile markers as we pass them and making other random comments such as when I passed a guy at 2 miles to go and I told him that seeing the 2 mile marker just made me so damn excited I had to speed up. Needless to say, none of the guys appreciated any of my humorous comments and I think I was getting on their nerves by having so much fun.
Anyway, in the end I finished only 4 minutes slower than last year and I would sum up my race by saying that "I didn't totally suck" (which is a compliment I reserve only for really good days). I also realized that bike racing is like a drug addiction . . . you can take the girl off endorphins for a whole year but one little taste and she's hooked again.
Suffice it to say that I'm off to Michigan this weekend for back to back days of cyclocross racing! Hopefully the endorphins will be just as good there!!
My Alan teammates had mixed results at the Short and Fat. Bjorn Selander won the Short and Fat - on a cross bike! Paul Thoresen cracked thhe top 100 . . . but many of them suffered from flats. Matt Kelly gotten taken down in the first mile, ran over, and rolled his tire. He got a new one from Paul Schoenning but then had two more flats. I'm sooo not let them talk me into doing the race on a cross bike. I am a wuss and I like my full suspension on those bumpy trails!
Anyway, there I was lined up next to my FORCs teammate Michelle wondering just how badly I would do but trying to remember my daily affirmation "I am fast . . .yes I am." Okay, so I'm reading this book on the Tao of Sports and it says to put post it notes around the house to remind yourself that you are fast, worthy, whatever and so my friend Dirk put one up for me the night before the race that said that.
So the gun goes off and the pack surges forward and away goes Michelle. Okay, so that ended my plan of trying to stay on her wheel as that didn't last for 10 seconds. In one minute I can't even see her anymore. We're off down the gravel road and I'm trying to not get knocked over in the melee of 800 mountain bikers who don't know how to hold a line. After about 10 minutes not only have I been passed by all 800 people who started behind me but also by about 1000 more stand-ins who were brought in just to pass me on the road and then pull off. But I persevere and try not to worry about any bumping or jostling and that everyone is riding away from me . . . Dirk catches me way too soon given that he started almost in the back. He slows up though to remind me that "I am fast . . . yes I am" and then gives me a push to make it seem true.
Finally things start to get sorted out and we get off the annoying gravel road . . . and we're approaching the part of the race that makes me nervous-- the climbs. I know that I've lost leg strength over the last year and I know that I haven't really done any hilly rides this year. However, I finally get in "the zone" and people stop passing me. Then I start to pass at least a few people.
Then I start to get giddy with the fun of it all and I can't stop yelling "yahoo" every time I see volunteers or random people on the side of the trail clapping. The I get even more giddy and I start to talk to the other racers . . . this is normal procedure for the 40 mile race but not in the Short where everyone is all serious. I start yelling out the mile markers as we pass them and making other random comments such as when I passed a guy at 2 miles to go and I told him that seeing the 2 mile marker just made me so damn excited I had to speed up. Needless to say, none of the guys appreciated any of my humorous comments and I think I was getting on their nerves by having so much fun.
Anyway, in the end I finished only 4 minutes slower than last year and I would sum up my race by saying that "I didn't totally suck" (which is a compliment I reserve only for really good days). I also realized that bike racing is like a drug addiction . . . you can take the girl off endorphins for a whole year but one little taste and she's hooked again.
Suffice it to say that I'm off to Michigan this weekend for back to back days of cyclocross racing! Hopefully the endorphins will be just as good there!!
My Alan teammates had mixed results at the Short and Fat. Bjorn Selander won the Short and Fat - on a cross bike! Paul Thoresen cracked thhe top 100 . . . but many of them suffered from flats. Matt Kelly gotten taken down in the first mile, ran over, and rolled his tire. He got a new one from Paul Schoenning but then had two more flats. I'm sooo not let them talk me into doing the race on a cross bike. I am a wuss and I like my full suspension on those bumpy trails!
posted by MadCross at 9:17 PM
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